Young Folks Treasury, Volume 3 (of 12) eBook

“You must find it,” said Necessity, and
gave him a great push, which sent him on at a very
rapid rate.

For some time he continued to grope his way almost
in darkness, but soon a light began to shine before
him, which grew bigger and bigger as he advanced,
and he perceived that he was coming to another mouth
of the cave, leading to an open but very rough country.
The Prince was very glad indeed to issue forth and
breathe the fresh air, and he looked at the clear
sky with great satisfaction. Just before him,
however, there was a large house, with a great number
of doors and windows; and as he felt very hungry,
he determined to knock, and see if he could get any
breakfast.

Almost as soon as he had touched the knocker the door
was opened by a little old woman, plainly dressed,
but neat and tidy: and when the Prince told her
who he was, and what he wanted, she answered him with
a good-humored smile, very different from the frown
of stern Necessity: “Every one can have
food in my house who chooses to work for it; nobody
without. I can help you on your way, too; and
as for your poor horse you talk about, he shall be
provided for. My name is Industry, and Industry
always takes care of her beasts. Come in, young
man; come in.”

The Prince went in with a glad step, and found the
house quite full of people, all as busy as bees in
a field of clover, and all looking as bright and cheerful
as if they had washed their faces in sunshine.

It would take me an hour to tell you all the different
things they were employed in, every one working by
himself on his separate task, although two or three
were often seen doing different pieces of the same
work. But there were two very nice, pretty girls
there whom I must speak of, who seemed to be handmaidens
to the mistress of the house. One was a thoughtful-looking,
careful girl, who was busy in every part of the room
alternately, picking up all the little odds and ends
which were left after any piece of work was completed—­little
bits of string, ends of tape or thread, stray nails,
chips of wood, or pieces of paper. These, as
soon as she had gathered them up, she put safely by,
where she could find them again; and it is wonderful
how often she was called upon by the workmen for some
little scrap or another, just sufficient to complete
what they were about. Her name was Economy.

The other was a brighter, quicker-looking person,
with very clear eyes, like two stars, who went continually
through the room, putting everything to rights.
If a chair was out of its place, or a table turned
awry, or a tool put down where it should not be, she
could not bear to see it for a minute, but put all
things straight again, so that nobody was at a loss
where to find anything, She was called Order.

The hungry Prince was somewhat mortified to find a
good, large piece of work assigned him to do before
he could get his breakfast, and at first he was exceedingly
awkward, and did not know how to set about it; but
Industry showed him the way, Order helped him a good
deal, and Economy supplied him with the materials.